The day actually began on a rather unspectacular note.  Dylan and I grabbed bananas for breakfast, packed some sandwiches for lunch, and caught a ride with Nicole to the train station where we set out to see the Changing of the Guard.  I warned Dylan that the ceremony is a bit long and boring until the marching band comes, and by the time we had pressed our way through the crowds to try to catch a glimpse of the goings-on, he had to agree.  Because today is an August Saturday, every tourist in the area wanted to catch a glimpse of the Guard Change which made the area around Buckingham Palace an absolute madhouse!  Add on top of that the fact that it started raining halfway through the ceremony (can't you just see everyone trying to wedge their own umbrellas above people's heads while peering around everyone else's?), and you've got a pretty accurate picture of our experience.  And after about forty-five minutes--just when the marching band had arrived--they had to cancel the whole ceremony because of the rain.  Boo!  At least we had an adventure just trying to navigate our way through the crowds.

After that, Dylan and I trotted (I'm not going to use the word "hopped" again!) onto the tube (hurrah for a dry area!) and then hopped (shoot!) out at St. Paul's.  I really think that the building impressed Dylan as much as it impressed me the first time I saw it.  The dome is especially breath-taking.  Dylan had to snap pictures from every angle all the way around the cathedral.  We didn't want to pay the outrageous sum to tour the inside, so we just poked our heads through the doors and caught a glimpse of the gorgeous interior.  I think the whole thing left a very definite impression on Dylan.

Once we had soaked in the grandeur and majesty of Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece, we decided to visit the Museum of London (only a block away).  This museum is nothing like the British Museum or National Gallery in terms of size and content, but it does provide you with a very charming, hands-on overview of London through the ages.  Dylan loved walking past all of the reconstructed town scenes and trying on medieval costumes with me.  :-)

I glanced at my watch around 1:30, and realized that we needed to book it in order to make our "Don Quixote" ballet on time.  Since I missed seeing "Swan Lake" two weeks ago (I completely forgot about my tickets!), I wasn't about to miss the Bolshoi Ballet performing "Don Quixote."  Their company premiered this particular ballet in Russia, and then the famous Anna Pavlova brought it over to Western Europe.  Wow!

Dylan and I arrived at the Royal Opera House just in time to grab our tickets and take the elevator up, up, up to the topmost balcony.  We were seated on the uppermost bench on the righthand side of the stage, but the perspective was actually pretty good.  We had a wonderful view of the pit orchestra, and because a lot of people left during the ballet's first intermission (there were two altogether!), we got to move about four seats to the center where the view was almost perfect.  The lights dimmed soon after we arrived, but Dylan and I were able to take a quick glance around the hall first and see that it was absolutely gorgeous.  Dylan says that it looks exactly like he pictured a European concert hall--luscious golds and reds, sculptured walls, tiered balconies, elegant curtains.  The two of us, dressed in our streetwear, didn't feel worthy enough to sit in the seats.  :-)

The performance was just as lovely as the hall.  It was truly breath-taking; a magical experience from beginning to end.  I couldn't follow the storyline at all (it looked to me like a bunch of dance numbers filled with flowers and silvery tu-tus through which Don Quixote wandered in full armor every now and then!), but the dancing was incredible and the costumes and scenery presented a thrilling spectacle.  This is the very last day that the Bolshoi Ballet performs in London, and everyone had a lot of energy at the performance.  The leading dancers leapt and pirouetted about the stage with incredible ease (the star female executed a perfect fuete that lasted for about thirty turns!), and the audience went wild at the end of the show.  I had been a bit worried about what Dylan would think of the performance, assuming that he, being a thirteen-year-old boy, would be bored to death by the ballet.  I needn't have worried, though; the performance is right up there on his list with "Mary Poppins" now!  And although the ballet was long (three hours!), the two of us enjoyed every second.  During the second intermission, we even splurged and shared a lemon ice.  Delightful!

On our way back to the tube station after the performance, we passed the Royal Ballet School, and Dylan took a quick picture of me arabesquing in front of the entryway!  We then wandered through the bank district and right past Sir Christopher Wren's gigantic Monument.  After that, we crossed London  Bridge by foot and walked around Southwark Cathedral.  Borough Market (the food market I visited with Richard last week) was, unfortunately, closed, but our walk also took us past the famous "Clink" jail, the Globe Theatre, and Sir Francis Drake's ship.  Every evening, a cast performs "Pirates of Penzance" aboard the ship, and we heard them warming up as we passed by.  What fun!

I really enjoyed just walking arm in arm with Dylan and watching him take his last glances around London.  After awhile, we hopped on a double-decker bus which took us right past our favorite sights (the Parliament Building, the Thames, etc.)  As suppertime drew nearer, we decided that we wanted to splurge on some hot toffee pudding (Dad raves on and on about its deliciousness!), so we bought 20 pence rolls at Sainsbury's for dinner, and then went searching for a restaurant with toffee pudding on its menu.  We looked at menu after menu in pubs, cafes, etc., but the only place that seemed to sell the stuff was Pizza Hut!  When our hot sticky toffee pudding orders arrived at long last, we were crushed to discover that they were neither hot nor sticky nor appetizing.   Oh well!  At least we had plenty of time to chat and reminisce as we sat in the restaurant.

After that, Dylan and I rode the double-decker busses a bit more and just enjoyed spending time with each other.  As we talked about all the fun we've had together, Dylan got a little teary and so did I.  I can't imagine a more perfect final impression of London, though--seeing all of our favorite spots at sunset from the top deck of a bus.  We actually ended up getting a bit lost on our way back to a tube station, but we eventually got onto the central line and made it home.

I'm sure going to miss Dylan!  I'm glad I have such a kindred-spirited brother, and I'll be forever grateful for this opportunity I had to share London with him.